By Michael Newman

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Detweiller Park may seem to be a little emptier when 185 schools flooded Peoria last Saturday for the First to the Finish Invitational. For the Richard Spring Invitational on Saturday morning, 78 schools will head to Detweiller to test themselves on this fast course. The course could be extremely crowded since teams can put as many as 10 runners on the starting line

64 Girls teams are entered. 69 Boys teams will compete in their race. The quantity of runners making that first turn could make that area a spot to watch at the beginning of each of the races.

Weather should be good with temperatures in the mid-60’s with the surface a little drier than the week before. The individuals could steal the team competition with Girls defending champion McKenzie Yanek competing against a strong Illinois contingent led by Lindsay Graham. Zach Dale could not race with his team last week because he was involved in ACT testing. He will be on the line Saturday wanting to establish a faster time than rival Jesse Reiser did last week.

The Richard Spring Invitational is named after former Peoria Bergan runner Richard Spring who finished third in the 1A state meet in 1981 along with leading Bergan to a 1A team championship. While attending Augustana College in 1982, Spring died while running. This meet is dedicated to the spirit that Spring gave to his school and his teammates.

Here is a look at each of the Varsity races that will take place on Saturday morning.

Girls Race – 9:40 AM

IL Ranked Teams (17) – 3A: #1 Glen Ellyn Glenbard West, #4 Palatine, #7 Schaumburg, #16 St. Charles East, #20 Downers Grove North, #22 Fox Lake Grant, #24 Naperville Neuqua Valley 2A: #11 Chatham-Glenwood, #13 Normal University, #16 Mahomet-Seymour, #17 Springfield, #19 West Chicago Wheaton Academy, #22 Peoria Notre Dame, #24 Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 1A: #3 St. Joseph-Ogden, #4 Petersburg PORTA, #12 Monticello

Team Outlook – Glenbard West has rolled in their first two meets. It does not look like the Hilltoppers will slow down in this meet. Lindsay Graham is one of the elite runners in the state and will be one of the individual favorites. Glenbard even with Graham way out front have been running good packs. Last week it was 72 seconds without #2 runner at Hinsdale Lindsay Payne. Lisa Luczak, Kaitlyn Kenwood, Janie Nabholz, and Grace Rogers gives this team a strong nucleus. It would not surprise me if they get at least six runners in the first 25.

Look for Palatine to bounce back after a so-so opener at Hinsdale. On Thursday in a dual meet against Schaumburg, the Lady Pirates ran with an aggressive strong pack early to hold off the ranked Saxons 21-36. Kelly O’Brien will be one of the top runners in the state this year. She will be among the front runners in this race. Amy Kieliszewski leads a strong pack that will look to keep their split near 45-50 seconds. #7 Schaumburg did not have a runner in the top ten last week at Lake Park, but the 33 second split on their five scoring runners must be recognized. Erin Falsey and freshman Lauren Kublinski should be two of the front runners for the Saxons. Schaumburg could make things interesting if their pack moves up a little.

St. Charles East did not run their best race of the year last week at Lake Park. Then again, it was only the second week of the season. Coach Mike Arenberg believes his squad has the talent to run a tight pack. Led by Torree Scull, this team could demonstrate a little more of their packing ability on Saturday. Emma Moravec was the only top ten finisher for Downers Grove North last week at Lake Park, but the Trojans had a tight 29 second split from their 2-5 runners. They will look to close the gap on Moravec in this race.

Chatham-Glenwood and Normal University are the top ranked 2A teams in this field. The Titans did not run a great race last week at Springfield, but still ended up second in the race. Demi Dixon will lead this team on Saturday that will look to improve on their 85 second five runner split that they ran last week. U-High did not get out strong last week and ended up ninth at Detweiller in FTTF. They will take it a step up this week led by Shannan Supan and Ashley Lafayette.

Pleasant Valley IA returns again to Detweiller Park with defending race champion McKenzie Yanek. Last week at the Cedar Rapids Invitational, Pleasant Valley finished third with an 85 seconds split. Don’t be surprised if this team is in the top ten in the team standings if they can get their five runner split on Yanek under 65 seconds.

Individual Outlook – With a week of dry weather, the conditions of Detweiller Park should be better Saturday than they were the week before. It could mean that we could have some fast times. McKenzie Yanek (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf IA) ran 16:48 to win the race last year. She could go faster as evidenced by the 14:00 for 4k that she ran last week at Cedar Rapids. Lindsay Graham (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) will push Yanek. She ran 16:49 last Saturday to win at Lake Park. It would not surprise me if she went under 16:40 in this race.

Kelly O’Brien (Palatine HS) ran 17:28 to finish fourth at Hinsdale two weeks ago. She has the talent to be up with Graham and Yanek. The story of freshman Audrey Ernst (North HS, St. Charles North) continues this week in this meet. Last week at Lake Park, Ernst was edged out at the line by Gabby Juarez for second place. Ernst just goes out and runs. She will hang on to the front runners for as long as possible. She could be under 17 minutes in this race.

I would keep an eye on Maryjeanne Gilbert (Notre Dame HS, Peoria) in this race. In her opener two weeks ago at Canton, she ran a solo 17:39 on a challenging three mile course. She ran 10:34 last spring at state. She could have an advantage being on her home course capable of going under 16:50 in this race.

Other runners that I would keep an eye on include Adrienne & Maria Brauer (PORTA HS, Petersburg), Mary Clare Leonard (Marist HS, Chicago), Lisa Luczak and Lindsay Payne (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn), Torree Scull (East HS, St. Charles), Kathryn House (Loyola Academy, Wilmette), Amy Kieliszewski (Palatine HS), Natalie Waters (Lincoln-Way West HS, New Lenox), Erin Falsey (Schaumburg HS), Julia Pena (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville), and Lauren Whitehouse (Mahomet-Seymour HS).

Boys Race – 11:00 AM

IL Ranked Teams (21)– 3A: #2 Orland Park Sandburg, #5 O’Fallon, #7 Elmhurst York, #8 Wilmette Loyola Academy, #12 Arlington Heights Hersey, #15 Naperville North, #19 St. Charles East, #20 Park Ridge Maine South, #25 Barrington 2A: #2 Mahomet-Seymour, #8 West Chicago Wheaton Academy, #13 Springfield, #15 Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, #17 Chatham-Glenwood, #19 Normal University, #22 Darien Hinsdale South, #25 New Lenox Lincoln-Way West 1A: #6 St. Joseph-Ogden, #7 Monticello, #11 Pleasant Plains, #20 Stanford Olympia.

Team Outlook – There is not as much muscle in this team race than there was a week ago at first to the Finish. It still should be a good competition. Sandburg looked strong two weeks ago at Lyons Township running three in the first five to win the team competition with 29 points. Their split in that race was only 28 seconds. Sean Torpy was the individual winner at that meet and will be among the top runners in this meet. Tom Brennen and Greg Bruzinski should be close to Torpy. The Eagles will again need to have a tight pack with at least three runners in the first 15.

O’Fallon will continue to build on their first two weeks with strong performances at Granite City and then last week in St. Louis at the Forest Park XC Festival. Dorrian Gordon was the individual winner running 15:25 on the 5k course. Look for him to challenge for the top spots. Their split last week on five was 72 seconds. That will need to come down this weekend if the Panthers want to challenge for the team title. Their split between their pack and Gordon was 49 seconds. That too needs to get smaller.

It is hard to speculate how York and Loyola will do since both teams will be making their invitational meet debuts for the 2014 season. The Dukes opened up their season defeating #10 Glenbard West 22-37 in a tactical dual meet with a 20 second five runner split. It will be interesting to see how this team responds in their first big meet. Matt Plowman should be the front runner on this team capable of placing in the top five. Loyola Academy will run their top seven together for the first time this season. Christian Swenson and Jack Carroll lead this team. It would not surprise me if this team finishes in the first three.

Hersey finished third at the Fenton Early Bird Meet but that was without #2 runner Grant von der Lippe. With the senior in the lineup at this meet, the Huskies will have a formable front two with von der Lippe and David Rodriguez. This team could pull a surprise up front as well. Naperville North hopes to bounce back after their fifth place finish at Hinsdale two weeks ago. Jon Klaiber should be in the top ten in this race and will lead the Huskies. It is uncertain if Kerry Gschwendtner will be back in the line-up for Coach David Racey. He was injured at Hinsdale. He might be back on Saturday. Their split at Hinsdale was 62 seconds. That pack will need to get closer together if North wants a top five finish.

There are two smaller schools that I want to keep an eye on. Mahomet Seymour is currently ranked second in 2A. They have looked strong in their first two meets. Last week at Springfield, the Bulldogs only had a fifty second split on their first five. Alex Keeble will be one of the top 2A runners this fall. He could also be in the top ten in this race. How they run in this race could define this team as they venture into the rest of the season.

The same can be said about Monticello. Ranked seventh in 1A, this team could move higher with a good performance in this meet. Matt Norvell ran 15:35 last week at Springfield and could get close to 15 minutes in this meet. If their split is under 16 minutes with Norvell in the first 20, this team could finish in the top ten.

St. Charles East, Maine South, Wheaton Academy, and Springfield are teams that will contend for top ten spots. Oak Park-River Forest will be running their full top seven for the first time this year with Irwin Loud moving up from the sophomore level. Plainfield South ran a tight split last week at Joliet. They could be a surprise team in this meet.

Individual Outlook – McHenry’s Jesse Reiser threw down the gauntlet last week when he won the FTTF 3A race in a swift 14:20. This week, it will be Zach Dale’s turn to answer the gun. The Conant senior has been quiet during the early part of this season. He showed that he is capable of a fast time after zipping to a 14:48 course record on the Conant course in a dual meet Wednesday at Busse Woods. That is a good time on that course. Could he get close to the time that Reiser ran last Saturday? The Wednesday race shows that he is capable of that kind of performance.

Dale is running as an individual in this race. One other individual that will be toeing the line is defending 1A champion Jon Davis (Oakwood HS, Fithian). He has deviated from his school’s schedule and will be running in some bigger races this fall most likely preparing himself for a long post-season run. Davis ran 14:46 at state last year. He could be under 14:40 in this race.

Graham Brown (Palatine HS) started his season with a win at Hinsdale two weeks ago. He could be one runner that pushes his MSL rival. Dorrian Gordon (O’Fallon HS) showcased his talent in winning at Forest Park last week. I think he could be up front pushing the pace. Matt Plowman (York HS, Elmhurst) had his confidence renewed after a strong finish to the track season. He could be another runner that pushes for a sub 14:40 time.

Matt Periera (Lake Zurich HS) has been silent so far this season. He will make his invitational racing debut in this meet. The belief of his coach JB Hanson is that people do not realize how good his talented sophomore is. We may get more than a glimpse of that in this race. David Rodriguez (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights) ran close to 14:40 in this meet last year. It would not surprise me if he finishes in the top five in this race.

This is an extremely deep field. We could see a large amount of runners under 15 since the course conditions could be better than last week. Runners that I would keep an eye on include Jon Klaiber (North HS, Naperville), Pavlo Hutsalyuk (Lane Tech HS, Chicago), Devin Davies (York HS, Elmhurst), Alex Keeble (Mahomet-Seymour HS), Sam Oh (Stevenson HS, Lincolnshire), Henry Mierczwa (Maine South HS, Park Ridge), Kyle Cepeda (Wheaton-Warrenville South), Sean Torpy and Tom Brennen (Sandburg HS, Orland Park), Jack Carroll and Christian Swenson (Loyola Academy, Wilmette), Peter Johnsrud (Oswego HS), Grant von der Lippe (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights), Matt Norvell (Monticello HS), and Eli Hill (University HS, Normal).